[Rockhounds] Black Hills, South Dakota

Wed Jul 1 06:44:31 PDT 2009

Andrew,
Thanks!
I contacted Tom Loomis, and as you predicted, he was of great help as well.
Jim

--- On Sun, 6/28/09, Andrew Turner <turnea55 at hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Andrew Turner <turnea55 at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [Rockhounds] Black Hills, South Dakota
To: rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com, turnea55 at hotmail.com
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 5:57 PM

Jim,

I used to live in that area while I was a park ranger for Jewel Cave Nat'l Monument.  It's been a few years, so I cannot guarantee the access issues.  If you are interested in a specific site I mention, please inquire and I will give you further directions.  Obtaining a Black Hills Forest map as well as searching through Mindat will help you further.

As far as collecting, there are many pegmatite mines around Keystone and 
Custer. SD has over 20,000 pegmatites, of which over 200 are zoned (contain more than just black tourmaline and quartz). Some are right off the road and very accessible, others were once accessible but are now difficult. The Tin Mountain and Tip Top mines should 
still be accessible and are easy to get to. Both are right before you get to Custer coming from the west (Wyoming).  Tin Mountain can be seen as you go down the hill toward Custer, it is a notch in the side of the mountain on the north side.  A quick turn-off onto the forest service road will get you there.  Lots of yellow lepidolite, columbite, tourmaline, beryl, and even some rarities can be found.  The Tip Top mine is one of the most famous mineral mines in the world.  Turn south at Fourmile, about 2 miles before Custer.  Stay left for about 2-3 miles and it should still be somewhat visible. It is a well known mine, so several people could help you find it. 

The Ingersoll Mine is one of  the few with gem elbaite tourmaline, but it requires a pretty good hike. It is right behind Mt. Rushmore (and can be seen from it).  Park just past the camp site on the 1880 railroad road (goes from Hill City to Keystone).  There is a faded path that is about a mile long and very steep.  The large mine is on top of the hill.  The mine has colored tourmaline, columbite, lepidolite, garnet, etc.  

The Shamrock Mine with rose quartz and colored tourmaline is very easy to get to.  It is just east of Custer on the way to Custer State Park.  Turn right onto Shamrock Road and you can easily see the mine cut into the hillside.  It is directly across from one of the larger rock shops in Custer (located on a small hill).  Not fantastic specimens, but decent and easy to get to.

There are numerous mines along the forest service roads that loop south of Custer.  Some are accessible and some are not.  Also some mines on the 1880 RR road to Hill City are also accessible.  

The Etta Mine with its huge spodumene crystals and great columbite is now 
off limits. I can help you with some directions although it's been a few 
years. It is right behind Keystone to the east, turn just after the nice hotel.  There are several other mines in the area, but hiking is needed.  

The uranium mines near Edgemont are interesting if you like massive carnotite..hehe.  They are easy to access.

All of these mines are easily accessible by minivan.  Just stay away from Greyhound Gulch Road east of Keystone, it's a doozy with any vehicle (although has some good mines there).

There are about 4 rock shops in the area...2 near custer, 1 in Keystone, 1 
in Hill City (museum too) and 1 near Rapid City. However, I would recommend 
contacting Tom Loomis of Dakota Matrix Minerals 
(http://www.dakotamatrix.com) in Rapid City. He is now the local expert in 
the area and even has some claims to the Tip Top dumps and may let you dig. He also knows the status of probably all of the mines there and could give directions.
He's one of the nicest guys I've meant and his knowledge is fantastic (not 
to mention great prices on minerals). I had him identify some of the weird 
phosphates I found at Tip Top, and he not only identified them, he sent me a 
few freebees including a magazine on the mine. I even visited his house and 
inquired about some SD azurite (uncommon)...he had many pieces of which he 
just gave me one.  Hope this helps.

Andrew Turner

Victorville, CA

> I'll be passing through the Black Hills region arounf July 30, and would like to collect at some of the pegmatite sites there. I have no information on the current status of any of the mines, though. can anyone help with information on which mines might be available for collecting on the dumps?
> Any thing on accessability would also be of help. We'll be driving the minivan with poor ground clearance.
> Jim Daly

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